Rail-joint.



,C. W. WHITCOMB.

RAIL JOINT. APPLICATION FILED SEPLGI 191 6- Patented Apr. 17, 1917.

' ZSHEETS-SHEET C. W. WHITCOMB.

RAIL JOINT.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT-6,1916.

Patented Apr. 17', 1917i 2 $HEETS-$HEET 2 ammo a G. W T'Wa'ioozn MmCHARLES W. WHITCO-MB, 0F POTLATGH, IDAHO.

RAIL-JOINT.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES W. WVH'IT- COMB, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residlng at Potlatch, in the county of Latah and State of Idaho,have invented new and useful Improvements in Rail-Joints, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in means for connecting themeeting ends of' railway rails, and the primary object of the inventionis to so cut or otherwise form the ends of the rails as to permit of alapping engagement one with the other, fish plates or angle bars beingarranged to the opposite sides of the rails and the connecting bolts forthe fish plates passing only through the webs of the respective railsand not through the lapping portions of the said webs whereby the stressor strain upon the bolts incident to one of the rails pulling away fromthe other when expanding or contracting will be relieved and a rigid andeffective joint provided. A

With the above and other objects in view the improvement residesin theconstruction, combination and arrangement, of parts set forth in thefollowingspecification and falling withinthe scope of the appendedclaim.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view of two rails con- 7 nected in accordance withthe present invention, Fig. 2 is a side elevation, parts being brokenaway,

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional View approximately on the line 3-3 ofFig. 2. v Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional View proximately on the line4-4; of Fig. 1,

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional View approximately on the line 55 ofFig. 1, and

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of one of the rail ends.

As illustrated by the drawings the rails 1 and 2 are cut angularly attheir ends as indicated by the numerals 3. This cut extends through thehead of each of the rails and through a portion of the web thereof asindicated by the numeral 4. .The base flanges, at the terminal of theangular cut of the web which also extends through the said flanges,provide straight shoulders, as indicated by the numerals 5 and 6, thesaid shoulders be ing arranged at a right angle with respect to thelongitudinal plane of the rails.

Each of the rails, inward of the angular cut 3 has its Web enlarged orthickened, as

Specification of Letters Patent. P te ted Apr. 17, 1917. Applicationfiled September 6, 1916. Serial No. 118,689.

indicated the numeral 11, thus providing The angular inner faces of theout heads, I

webs and base flanges are adapted to contact when the rails areassociated, so that the shoulder 5 of one of the rails will abut withthe shoulder 6 of the adjacent rail, and the webs of the rails betweenthe shoulders provided by the enlargement or thickened webs 11 and theshoulders 6 of the base flange of the said rails are provided withtrans: verse openings through which are adapted to pass securingelements, such as bolts 7, the said'bolts also passing through openingsin the vertical members of the angle bars 8 and 9, and the ends of theangle bars are adapted to abut the shoulders provided by the widenedportions of the webs of the rails. Nuts 10 are provided-for the bolts 7,as disclosed by the drawings.

I am aware of the fact that rail joints have been provided wherein theends of the rails have been cut angularly and one of said angularportions lapping or contacting with the angular end of the other rail,but in each instance with which I am acquainted, lapping portions of therails have securing elements passing therethrough. This not only tendsto weaken the rails at what is really the weakest portions thereof butexerts a pressure upon the securing bolts in opposite directions whenone ofthe rails has a tendency to move away from the other rail and sothe lapping portions of the rails. are rendered defective andthe boltsare cut or bent so that the jointis not stable and therefore I make nobroad claim to this particular construction. The arrangement of theshoulders 11, whereby a pocket is arranged in the sides of the rails forthe reception of the angle bars 8 and 9 is a particular feature of thisconstruction inasmuch as the angle bars effectively prevent the railsfrom creeping toward each other and also tend to effectively support therails at the joint thereof.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is: 1

The herein described means for connecting rails, including the meetingends of two rails each having its end cut angularly from one of thesides of its head to the opposite side thereof, said cut extendingthrough the Web and base flange of the rails, said rails having theirbase flanges terminating in angular shoulders at the commencement and atthe end of the angular cuts in the Webs, the Webs of the rails beyondthe angular cuts therein being provided with a plurality of boltopenings and the said Webs, inward of the bolt openings being. enlargedto pro- CHARLES W. WHITCOMB.

Copies of thispatent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0.

